“Why not make the work easier and more interesting so that people do not have to sweat? The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity. People don’t go to Toyota to “work”, they go there to “think””- Taiichi Ohno, co-creator of The Toyota Production System.
Toyota is not only well-known as a car manufacturer but also famous in terms of a business that applies sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Even though Toyota has continued to face challenges, it still tries to keep up its founding principle: “Contributing to society by making automobiles”. According to Toyota, it has been actively engaging in social contribution activities in order to support all around sustainable development. For instance, Toyota has provided traffic safety programs as well as other programs ranging from reforestation to environmental education in terms of environment, and many other activities.
What is the Toyota way to a sustainable growth? Susan Thomas has introduced the idea of the Toyota way in her article, “Toyota has very strong set of values – called the Toyota Way – which guides it in everything it does. The Toyota Way is based on two pillars: respect for people and continuous improvement.”. Patricia Pineda, group vice president of Hispanic business strategy for Toyota Motor North America, explains the model in the article. With the two key pillars in mind, the employees are encouraged to demonstrate respect for people but use the power of teamwork, to make decisions as if the customer is standing next to you and embrace the responsibilities of citizenship wherever you do business. Furthermore, Toyota has a tree metaphor which represents its global vision and its goal to a sustainable growth. With the Toyota principles being the roots, the branches lead to the 12 tenets that represents the “fruits” of the tree as well as Toyota’s key tenets. It gives not only customers, but also investors, and stakeholders a clear view of what the role of Toyota is going to be in the future.
Also, Toyota expands the tree metaphor to illustrate the way how it will achieve sustainability in the future in its annual sustainable management report. It successfully demonstrates the idea that no matter how the business environment changes, it will still create values for society through the “Toyota Way”. It is impressive for me how a business can develop such a sustainable way of management. As far as I am concerned, CSR and sustainability are important to a firm and that they are meant not only to secure a firm’s future in an efficient as well as environmental friendly way but also to contribute to the society.
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